tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105956652024-03-13T08:35:53.020-04:00Created Things"..because I have followed its roots, so to speak, to the first infallible cause of all created things."
- Georg Cantor, tr. J. Dauben.Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.comBlogger340125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-34988674973528851622023-10-25T12:57:00.007-04:002023-10-25T12:57:59.692-04:00Quote of the day<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> The easiest moral place to stand is in the middle.</p></blockquote><p>- <a href="https://jewishworldreview.com/1023/shapiro102523.php">Ben Shapiro</a></p>Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-7350607943694135682023-05-20T22:24:00.000-04:002023-05-20T22:24:04.680-04:00Losing the thread of things<p>From Wikipedia's "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sovetsk,_Kaliningrad_Oblast&oldid=1146668476">Sovetsky</a>" article:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Modern Sovetsk has sought to take advantage of Tilsit's tradition of cheese production (Tilsit cheese), but the new name ("Sovetsky cheese") has not inherited its predecessor's reputation. </p></blockquote><p><br /></p>Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-31040824365231391332023-04-18T22:27:00.001-04:002023-04-18T22:27:15.375-04:00Life in a country with no First Amendment<p>U.K. university (a member of the University of London) fires a professor without warning for politically inconvenient research, and confiscates her data while they're at it.</p><p><br /></p><p> https://archive.ph/DeWSK#selection-2759.5-2797.54</p>Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-69681228982719878242023-02-22T00:54:00.003-05:002023-04-18T22:28:37.966-04:00Trusting the elites<p> A silver medal struck by the Kaiser's <a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/mint.php?id=2893">Lauer</a> mint in Nuremberg, to celebrate the "liberation" of East Prussia. It features a naked, potbellied and anatomically correct Hindenburg, about to give a <i>coup-de-grace</i> to the Russian bear.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WWI_German_Silver_Medal_East_Prussia_1914._Reverse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="650" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlePAFxI477RyOZ0h_BLEREWpWwpvJ-RxpVfob-jQGC8N8sQxxoGIsqmeGNhGPnbasyITkiceL-cr3xidgnaimn5AGRt7G1x85EEiKp9NSDPb6P_YaKPlq_ELH3R0rG27TySpxJz4VfgWWtlgehkTgwB9djkKtgYGX1nYBt7m0kHVFwSogGvE/s320/WWI_German_Silver_Medal_East_Prussia_1914._Reverse.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><br />I presume that the same sort of people who thought that invading France was a good idea also thought that this coin was a good idea.<br /><br />It's easy to get lost among the many graceful features of this fine work of art, but one feature you want to note is that the Great Man's broadsword is too long for the terrain; it is physically impossible for him to hit the bear without shifting his sword grip. On the other hand, Hindenburg's belly, testicles and anus are unprotected and each within a single swipe of the bear's claws, and the only things between his neck and the bear's teeth are Hindenburg's stout courage and body odor.<br />Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-33738319227716161802022-09-28T22:11:00.004-04:002022-09-28T22:11:49.857-04:00Nordstream sabotage<p>Russia's attitude seems to be that it's not in Russia's interest to sabotage their own pipeline, because they could have just as easily turned off the gas pressure. That's true, but it certainly wasn't in their best interests to invade Ukraine, or to send thousands of untrained soldiers into a war zone, or to mobilize their reserves for a fight in which reserve soldiers without trained officers are less than useless.<br /><br />Furthermore, if Russia intends to use nuclear or chemical weapons in the Ukraine in the coming days, it wouldn't expect to get any hard-currency revenue from the pipeline for many years; thus destroying NordStream would send a pointed message about the seriousness of their intentions, at no expected cost to the regime.<br /><br /><a class="en67trww rrjlc0n4 ezidihy3" href="https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/damage-nord-stream-pipelines-unprecedented-may-have-been-sabotaged">https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/damage-nord-stream-pipelines-unprecedented-may-have-been-sabotaged</a></p>Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-57433523043953433842018-03-15T10:41:00.001-04:002018-03-15T10:41:10.835-04:00Quote of the day<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="page" title="Page 2">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<span style="font-family: 'CMR12'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">The number </span><span style="font-family: 'CMSY10'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">β</span><span style="font-family: 'CMR12'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">2 appears in several places
in elementary geometry ... </span><br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
- <span style="font-family: CMBX12; font-size: 12pt;">Yoshio Agaoka, <a href="https://eudml.org/doc/223783" target="_blank">Degree of Triangle Centers and a Generalization of the Euler Line</a></span>Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-17912027346709217102017-12-04T13:37:00.004-05:002017-12-04T13:37:40.266-05:00Quote of the dayFrom an email this morning: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I'm beginning to think that possibly the most catastrophic vulnerability a modern nation has is not hackers, nukes, plague, fake news or autonomous robots, but the act of attempting to upgrade the software that its infrastructure runs on. - Richard James</blockquote>
Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-61707513010566603682016-03-09T16:41:00.001-05:002016-03-09T16:42:55.016-05:00R<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Programming is to "nailing jelly to a tree" as programming in R is to "nailing jelly to a tree, when the jelly hates you and you're using a hammer instead of a rock and the tree turns out to be a guy in a tree suit."</span>Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-14683935108427622152015-09-14T01:11:00.001-04:002015-09-14T01:11:35.014-04:00Cheers<div class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9668268/Cheers-funniest-lines.html?frame=2394223" target="_blank">Proof</a> of sorts that the 1980's weren't a complete cultural wasteland:</div>
<blockquote>
<u>Cliff</u>: You know Rebecca , I don't know why you're so concerned about your figure. You know, back in the Renaissance times, full figured women were revered.<br />
<u>Norm</u>: Get out.<br />
<u>Cliff</u>: It's true! Yeah, yeah, artists would only paint big, voluptuous women. In fact, that's how they got rid of a lot of their old paint.</blockquote>
Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-39220384074329199612015-09-14T00:56:00.000-04:002015-09-14T00:58:40.369-04:00Quote of the day<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A mind like a mousetrap, only he ought to let some o' those poor mice go.</blockquote>
<br />
- Poul Anderson, <u>Hunters of the Sky Cave</u>Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-15224552482019734162015-05-05T01:38:00.001-04:002015-05-05T01:38:20.480-04:00Quote of the day<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So now I think I finally know why people conventionally picture heaven as populated by harpists and not contrabassoonists. </blockquote>
<br />
- <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mathmusic/posts/10153239627448080" target="_blank">David Feldman</a> Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-7113699725665699012015-03-11T15:51:00.000-04:002015-03-11T15:51:17.514-04:00Leading a horse to water<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Taak any bryd, and put it in a cage,<br />and do al thyn entente and thy corage<br />to fostre it tendrely with mete and drynke<br />of alle deyntees that thou kanst bithynke,<br />and keep it al so clenly as thou may,<br />although his cage of gold be never so gay,<br />yet hath this brid, by twenty thousand foold,<br />goon ete wormes and swich wrecchednesse.<br />for evere this brid wol doon his bisynesse<br />to escape out of his cage, yif he may.<br />his libertee this brid desireth ay.</blockquote>
<br />
- Chaucer, Manciple's Tale of the Crow.Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-47735091066867131572015-01-06T15:23:00.006-05:002015-01-06T15:23:49.017-05:00Hey, it's 2015!<blockquote>
Weaseling out of things is important to learn. Itβs what separates us from the animals. Except the weasel.
</blockquote>
- Homer Simpson
Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-32985837793988461482014-11-28T14:28:00.000-05:002014-11-28T14:28:47.012-05:00Happy Black Friday<iframe width="854" height="510" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Pj0EbHINTJU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-80333932510681034632014-11-13T11:56:00.003-05:002014-11-13T11:56:35.658-05:00MLLP (HL7 interface) buffer termination character in Python ...... is '1C'.decode("hex"). In case you were wondering.Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-78383568870502003812014-11-11T12:37:00.002-05:002014-11-11T12:42:20.969-05:00 4,835,716,461,499 percent... the question is: <a href="http://panampost.com/ivan-cachanosky/2014/10/23/competing-currencies-can-solve-argentinas-inflation-crisis/" target="_blank">how much inflation</a> has Argentina seen since 1940? In case you were wondering.Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-91127629936234837012014-11-04T11:58:00.001-05:002014-11-04T12:03:01.220-05:00Faculty time study <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/04/09/research-shows-professors-work-long-hours-and-spend-much-day-meetings" target="_blank">College faculty spend</a> "17 percent of their work week in meetings β including those with students β and 13 percent of the day on email ..."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/media/hours%20worked%20by%20academic%20rank_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/media/hours%20worked%20by%20academic%20rank_1.png" height="232" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This is even more incredible when you consider that faculty now make up less than one-half of the payroll at universities nationwide. At the turn of the twentieth century, almost all of the money we spent on higher education went to teaching and research. What percentage of tuition, endowment and taxpayer money actually gets spent on teaching or research nowadays? 25%? 20%? Nobody knows.Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-87852558025088174222014-10-06T17:22:00.001-04:002014-10-06T17:22:29.419-04:00I just wanna testify<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/FI2D-VpGrHA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-82294121405305040072014-09-16T05:42:00.001-04:002014-09-16T05:42:10.090-04:00Modern living<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/OMB5FCjV4wo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-74739653684482271682014-08-25T11:01:00.000-04:002014-08-25T11:01:22.374-04:00Quote of the day<blockquote>
Those who make the nation's songs (so much more admirable than its laws) advise us to look for the silver lining, to seek the blue bird, to put all our troubles in a great big box and sit on the lid and grin. Alice Coker had been unable to follow this counsel. Old Man Trouble, that foe of the songwriters, had plainly conquered her proud spirit.</blockquote>
- P.G. Wodehouse, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Conqueror-Collectors-Wodehouse-P-G/dp/1590200675/">Bill the Conqueror</a>.Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-74901529872249828012014-08-18T11:56:00.004-04:002014-08-18T11:56:45.665-04:00What a headline ... ... but terrifying for the victims:
<blockquote>
Shipwrecked tourists swam 6 hours towards erupting volcano</blockquote>
From the New York Post: "Tourists who escaped a sinking boat in Indonesia swam to an island with an erupting volcano and survived by drinking their own urine and eating leaves."Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-9147895467339719212014-06-18T10:03:00.003-04:002014-06-18T10:03:51.666-04:00First gay marriage, now this.57% of all Americans <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/elitist-superfluous-or-popular-we-polled-americans-on-the-oxford-comma/" target="_blank">now use the Oxford comma</a>. What next, grown men playing soccer?Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-14646880865076031072014-06-16T13:34:00.002-04:002014-06-16T13:34:31.975-04:00Good enough for government work.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/06/16/i-speak-broken-russian/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2014/06/TSAISpeakRussian.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
(from the<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/06/16/i-speak-broken-russian/" target="_blank"> Volokh Conspiracy</a>.)Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-17824712233062003372014-05-13T22:47:00.004-04:002014-05-13T22:57:10.167-04:00Macaulay Culkin eating a pizza<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/9pzm1lQX0qU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
And if that's not exciting enough, here's <a href="http://www.math.uiuc.edu/Macaulay2/doc/Macaulay2-1.6.0.1-20131031-2/share/doc/Macaulay2/Macaulay2Doc/html/___Constant.html" target="_blank">how to get pi in Macaulay</a>.Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10595665.post-27731519337715508502014-05-01T12:18:00.002-04:002014-05-01T12:21:19.261-04:00Babies, bathwater, potato, potahto<div class="tr_bq">
As a public rebuke to Donald Sterling's <a href="http://time.com/79590/donald-sterling-kareem-abdul-jabbar-racism/" target="_blank">vile racism</a>, UCLA is giving $425,000 back to Sterling, and is refusing to accept the rest of the three million dollars he and his wife donated to them for research into kidney disease. Kidney disease affects African-americans much more than white americans; for example, McClellan et. al. recently <a href="http://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/17/6/1710.full.pdf+html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">noted that</a>:</div>
<blockquote>
Age-adjusted [End-stage Renal Disease] rates are 982 people per million among black and 256 people per million for white
individuals, a 3.8-fold racial disparity.</blockquote>
Jeff Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393328804611600205noreply@blogger.com0